If you’ve ever wandered over to the makeup isles at Walmart or London Drugs these products might look familiar to you. But if you haven’t, there are some cool brands that are worth checking out. I recently tried out some new drugstore items from EcoTools, Real Techniques, Montagne Jeunesse and COLAB and here to share what I think!
Brushes- Ecotools and Real Techniques
From EcoTools, I received theΒ Large Powder Brush ($9.99 available at Walmart). This is my first brush from EcoTools although I have spotted in the drugstore many times before. The bristles in this are soooo soft and very flexible. I mainly use this with shimmery bronzers when I want to warm up the entire face. This would be amazing with the Hourglass ambient powders!
I like how it’s made with bamboo & recycled materials, and the price range is fantastic too (mostly under $10). The brush is designed for setting face makeup and it does an excellent job. EcoTools also has a collection of bath accessories and hair brushes and I’m definitely going to check those out next time I’m in London Drugs.
From Real Techniques I received the Sculpting BrushΒ ($13.99 available at Walmart, London Drugs). This is a newer brush that’s designed to create defined contours and can be used with creams and powders. The bristles are very soft and densely packed! I’ve mainly used it for powder bronzers and it worked well to fit right under my cheekbones!
For some reason, the brush I received had quite a bit of shedding and a couple of hairs sticking out at weird angles. I’ve ordered my own set of Real Techniques brushes from The Shopping Channel earlier this summer and all three brushes did not have this problem. So I’m not sure if it’s just this particular one, let me know if you have Real Techniques brushes.
Facial Masks- Montagne Jeunesse
I’ve seen Montagne JeunesseΒ (available at Walmart, London Drugs) masks on some other beauty blogs but it’s my first time trying this. The brand focuses on natural ingredients and never tests on animals. Each of these had different scents and are suppose to have slightly different benefits for the skin. I’m very used to sheet masks so I found the process of applying and washing off clay a bit of a hassle.
Creamy Coconut- This smells exactly like how it sounds, coconut! I’m not personally a fan so the experience wasn’t as nice but if you like coconut, give this a try! Quite hydrating and the mask does not dry up on the face.
Fruit Smoothie– This was more my cup of tea in terms of scent with a blend of tropical fruits such as mango and peach. However, the texture of this is harder to spread and it dried up quickly on my face. It’s suppose to be deep pore cleansing but I didn’t notice any difference to the size of my pores.
Clean-Up Mud– I have not tried this one yet but it has a blend of Aloe, Willow, Rosemary and Witch Hazel to combat blemishes on the skin. I don’t suffer too much from breakouts, so I’m waiting to see if it’s effective next time I’m having some problem areas.
The portion are quite big and it’s enough to cover my face at least 2 times. I would still probably pass on these in the future though because it takes me about 3 minutes to apply and then 5 minutes to wash it off completely. I prefer the convenience of sheet masks and these didn’t do anything spectacular for my skin. Big thumbs up for the company in putting in large amounts of effort on staying natural and procuring quality ingredients. And I love that these are single use (technically you can use these multiple times) packages!
Dry Shampoo- COLAB
Next up are the COLAB dry shampoos ($5.49 at London Drugs). As a girl with long hair, I can always appreciate a good dry shampoo to get me through the non-wash days.
The sheer invisible version is in the scent Rio Tropical and has a sweet fruity scent (Papaya, pineapple). The formula is quite good and it dries out any oils instantly and doesn’t leave any residue. However, the scent is not my favorite. It’s quite nice at first but it’s a bit overpowering. If I repeatedly use this on “dirty hair” days, it’ll leave a bad scent memory. It worked relatively well at absorbing oil, but overall I didn’t find my hair looking as fresh as I hoped.
The volume extreme version in London ClassicΒ (bergamot, musk & magnolia) is quite unique in that not only will it refresh your hair, but it will also add volume. I was skeptical but it REALLY works! It adds a bit more poof to your hair which adds to looking fresh. I sprayed some on my hand, and you can see visible product that’s looks like starch. I assume this is what attaches to your roots and creates volume. This does result in more white product coming out but once I brushed it out, I didn’t have a problem with any white cast. Loved this and it really gave a “fresh” look for me with the added volume.
These items were sent kindly by Farleyco Marketing who is a distributor to the Canadian market that brings international brands for us to enjoy!